Hey GOP: What Will You Do Without Your Young Activists?

byBrittany PoundersonNovember 3, 2016

As I walked out of my last Texas state convention, I remember the overwhelming feeling of loss. I got in my cab and made my way to the airport to fly home and all I could do was stare out my window and begin to follow what I could see as a clear downward projection for the Grand Ol’ Party.

When my good friend and I started Liberty Juice we were in our twenties and one of our leading goals was to unite and encourage our younger generation towards conservative activism. I remember attending a meeting and in a room with more than 150 people gathered from my district I could count on both of my hands those that looked to be under 35 years old.

That was a real problem for the GOP seven or eight years ago, and it continues to be one today.

Now, we’ve only further established this generational divide with Donald Trump. In my own non-scientific study, I can clearly see that it’s largely this older generation who has declared their unwavering support for party over country. I’m not talking about the average voter, I’m not referring to those who crawl off their couches to attend a rally where an orange man spends an hour delivering bloviating and circular rhetoric to the masses.

I’m referring to those who are the activists within the party, those who keeps the machines running behind the scenes, who are the block walkers, the phone callers, the state delegates, who spend hours in different volunteer capacities at their local headquarters. I can assure you that when it comes time for the unwashed masses to turn off their video games and they realize that activism doesn’t consist of listening to talk radio or making a social media post but requires one to roll up their sleeves and engage in the non-glorious work of the party, they will find themselves largely uninterested.

I was interviewed yesterday and I was asked my thoughts on what the party is going to do without the younger activists, like myself, who have been on the front-lines poised to take the positions of the “blue hairs” but who are now finding they have nothing in common with a party who will accept a conman who is not a Republican by the loosest standards and one with whom we can find no moral commonality.

It’s a great question and it needs to be considered seriously by the leaders of the Republican party, starting at the local county levels and pushed upward. I’ve seen several older people in our local party, vocal Trump supporters of course, put out calls for volunteers on their party pages and they wonder aloud on social media why this year is so different than other years for volunteer turnout. And I can only marvel at their lack of self-awareness.

People, like myself, who would have dedicated hours and hours towards different campaigns are disgusted and have chosen to disconnect. I won’t lend a hand towards a party that has forgotten their job is to protect the torch of conservatism—not a passing fad.

We’ve forgotten that our job as conservatives was to elect a conservative who would govern with a conservative philosophy. We have traded values, principles, and family values for moral relativism. We’ve watched evangelical leaders cash checks of $100,000.0 in exchange for declaring Trump is God’s chosen man. We’ve watched the NRA hand their endorsement to a man who supports unconstitutional gun grabbing policies. We’ve watched pro-growth tax foundations support a man who loves progressive tax rates and will create trade wars and massive deficits. We’ve seen pro-life leaders throw their support to a liberal who lauded partial birth abortion five minutes ago. Truth has lost its bearing, we have lost our way, and nothing matters anymore.

There is a new generation of us and we are tired of being bullied into accepting that we must swallow the Arsenic to avoid the Strychnine. We recognize that there are some things too valuable and precious to hand over to a fraud and that if we don’t keep our own house clean we have no business critically looking into the windows of the other party. We haven’t forgotten the basic rules of human decency and still have small children watching how far we are willing to go for a “win.”

These are the things that drove us to the Republican Party and inspired us to give our sweat equity to protect it. Without those values, the party is a meaningless shell and eventually becomes as depraved as the other side who vocally “boo’ed God.”

No, this party has turned into something that this ‘young-ish’ Republican is regretful to have wasted so much time on. And I, for one, will no longer be investing anything further into it and look forward to seeing the once Grand Ol’ Party slowly become irrelevant.

This younger activist will be turning her attention towards something new. And I can’t wait to see what kind of movement is birthed from this debacle of an election year. You can find me there and I invite you to join me when it’s over.

About The Author: Brittany Pounders is a conservative political commentator, blogger, and freelancer. She is a frequent guest columnist for The Toronto Sun, and can be heard through many different radio and media outlets such as The Blaze Radio Network, The Chris Salcedo Show, The Ed Dean Radio Show, has appeared on The Glenn Beck Show and regularly on cable news channels, including NewsmaxTv, One America News Network, America Trends, and the Fox News with Neil Cavuto. She resides in Texas with her husband and is raising three of the finest little people in the world.
Follow her on… Facebook or
@LibertyBritt

David Dean

Brittany, like Semper Fi1836 noted in his comments, a lot of us members of the older generation [I’m a boomer] are sick of politicians and parties where loyalty to the party’s candidates is more important than the party’s principles.

Semper Fi1836

Brittany – I need to inform you that you will be joined by a lot of us “blue hairs” who also find the GOP lacking. We will bring the experience and you will bring fresh legs. We can make a difference and should never stop working for what we believe in. It that means a new party – then so be it!

jyalai

I agree with SemperFi. This is not a generational problem. I am in my fifties. I have been involved heavily with my local Republican party for decades. This year I had planned to be very active. I found it very difficult to get motivated at all. I saw many of my cohorts in the party just walk away, because they could not bring themselves to support the presidential candidate. I think many will vote for Trump because the thought of another four years of Democratic control is more repugnant than anything else, but there is no enthusiasm.

JohnnyRingo

What bothered you most about the last 4 years?

jyalai

I’m confused. What are you referring too?

JohnnyRingo

“I think many will vote for Trump because the thought of another four years of Democratic control is more repugnant than anything else”

jyalai

The Democratic party has been systematically dismantling our American institutions to expunge it of any Christian influence. Our current president has decimated the Christian influence in our military and appointed leaders who actively root out expressions of Christianity. This administration is actively going after the local police force and putting it under federal jurisdiction through intimidation and bribery. This Democratic party is continually railing against those ideals that have been the strength of our country from the beginning. Our country’ success has not been because we are humanists and atheists, our country’s success has been through valuing Biblical principles, even when we fail to live to them. The Democratic party has been taken over by progressive, atheistic, communists, whose ultimate purpose is to root out God from our country. The fruit tells you what the tree is. I see the fruit of the democratic party is bitter and angry against God. The Democratic party knows what it wants and have been working toward that goal with laser vision for decades. The Republican party leadership is feckless, and without direction. But that is why I would rather have them running things. The best I can see for the future is the Trump really truly has a desire to implement conservative policies and he will learn on the job. The worst fear I have is that Trump was planted by the progressives and he knows exactly what he wants to do. Time will tell. Right now the total cluelessness of the Republican party leaders is still a better choice than the focused leadership of the progressives.

JohnnyRingo

Thank you. That was a well-written, concise response. I can see how strongly you feel about these issues.